The town’s communities of faith were active at varying levels this year.

The first event this year for Newtown Ecumenical Workcamp Servants (NEWS) was the group’s traditional pre-travel event: Young adults and chaperones participated in a sleepathon in a temporary shelter they constructed outside Newtown Congregational Church. It was also the first fundraiser for the group of 30 campers and 14 adults who were working toward a June trip to the Appalachia region.

NEWS hosted approximately 200 people for breakfast one Saturday morning in March, when the largest annual fundraiser returned for the first time in three years. Breakfast included raffles and testimonials by workcampers and servants, when they weren’t otherwise busy acting as servers and runners.

Ahead of a 2024 trip to Biloxi, Miss., the new group of workcampers has already done at least one fundraiser — its annual poinsettia sale — and spent time doing a service project at Real Food CT gardens on Huntingtown Road.

The 47th Ukrainian Festival returned to Paproski’s Castle Hill Farm Pumpkin Patch under sparkling blue skies on Sunday, August 27. The event, which drew hundreds to the local farm commenced at 11 am with the Celebration of the Divine Liturgy by Father Ivan Mazuryk, pastor of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church of Bridgeport, the festival’s sponsor.

The town’s youngest community of faith, New Heights Baptist Church, celebrated its first anniversary one week before Easter.

St Rose Church

On March 11, St Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church held two ceremonies to confirm 100 eighth grade confirmands. Bishop Frank Caggiano was the celebrant and Pastor Monsignor Weiss and Parochial Vicars Father Tomasz Przybyl and Father Karol Ksiazek were concelebrants.

The celebration was one of the final events for Fr Tomasz, who left St Rose on March 15. Parishioners celebrated their outgoing parochial vicar with a reception following the late morning Mass of March 12.

A month earlier, St Rose parishioners traveled to Ridgefield to join another former parochial vicar, Fr Alphonse Arokiam, as he was installed as pastor of St Elizabeth Ann Seton there.

In mid July the parish said farewell to Fr Karol. On July 1, however, Monsignor Weiss introduced two new staff members: Father Eric Silva, who is now serving as a parochial vicar; and Father Reagan Fernandes, who was a resident visitor for a few months.

St Rose also went through renovations during the early months of the year. A new tile floor was installed at the church, the Holy Shrine received a makeover, and a wooden sculpture of “The Risen Christ” was installed.

St Rose Church also began a year of events to say farewell to its longtime leader. Monsignor Robert Weiss, who has been pastor of the Church Hill Road parish since 1999, will be retiring in January. In 2021, at the age of 75, he was obligated to submit a formal resignation of his pastoral leadership and duties. At the time, however, he requested, and was granted, the rare extension from Bishop Caggiano so that he could reach his 50th year of priesthood while pastor of St Rose.

In mid-May, St Rose Church celebrated the Monsignor’s golden jubilee of ordination. In September, the entire town joined the parish in celebrating the outgoing leader of faith, who served as the Grand Marshal for the 2023 Labor Day Parade.

Trinity Episcopal Church

Members of Trinity Episcopal Church celebrated Mardi Gras and the season of Lent with a few events. In January, members of the historic Main Street church participated in a King’s Cake celebration and competition. More than 50 people gathered in the Glover Room of the Main Street church on January 8, when Epiphany was celebrated.

Spencer DeBrock and his friend from Texas, Mary Grace Fletcher, were voted creators of the Best Looking Cake. Additionally Nancy Maxwell and Floyd Higgins found small plastic babies hidden in two of the cakes, which earned them the honorary 2023 Mardi Gras King & Queen titles.

Maxwell and Higgins were then coronated the following month, when the public joined church members for a Mardi Gras Dinner & Celebration.

The meal featured favorites such as Gumbo Yah Yah, Crawfish Etouffee, and red beans and sausage.

Trinity Church’s signs were vandalized at least twice toward the end of summer, when someone took it upon themselves to destroy two recently-installed signs in front of the church and on its Church Hill Road driveway. The colorful signs meant to visually show inclusion and diversity were installed in March.

The community of faith did not bend, however. Within weeks, sturdy new signs were reinstalled at both locations, with the church continuing to show the world that all are indeed welcome there.

In mid-October, the congregation hosted the formal dedication of The Little Pantry. The pantry, constructed within the median of the church’s parking lot, was the dream of a parishioner and then planned and constructed by a small team who saw a need to address food insecurity. The Little Pantry is a small structure to collect and distribute shelf-stable and non-perishable food. Its motto is “Give what you can, Take what you need.”

The Little Pantry is supported by the Mission and Outreach Commission of Trinity Church. The group of dedicated volunteers inventory, stock and help supply the Little Pantry.

Also this year, Trinity committed to eradicating the large stand of Japanese knotweed on its property. That work began by treating and then removing the knotweed from the area. A former patch of turf grass has also been transformed into a pollinator garden, with 120 plants put into the ground. Additionally, the community of faith has linked up with Lights Out Connecticut to reduce the risk of light pollution to migratory birds.

A New Pastor, Other Activities

Newtown United Methodist Church also went through staffing changes this year. After giving notice of her decision in 2022, Pastor Lori Miller led her final worship service for the Sandy Hook Church on June 18. She had been serving as NUMC’s pastor since July 2016.

A few weeks later the congregation welcomed its new spiritual leader, Pastor Stephen Volpe.

Christ the King Lutheran Church was active all year. Its youth group spent one Sunday morning in February making 60 sandwiches for The Dorothy Day Hospitality House in Danbury, while the Sunday School class organized a charitable collection of food and goods for the same location.

A fishing derby for families and friends opened a May weekend, and the house of faith conducted another successful Fall Fair in early November.

Between campers and volunteers, over 200 people spent August 7-11 learning, teaching, or otherwise volunteering during Grace Family Church’s Vacation Bible School (VBS). Adam Fredericks, lead pastor of the Hawleyville church, said this year’s theme was Twists & Turns. While the overall theme and many of the teachings were scripted around games and fun (“how Jesus changed the game”), the message was serious.

Interfaith Council Events

Newtown Interfaith Council hosted a conversation in March, inviting the public to share their thoughts on peace — where they find inspiration in their faith, and how it can be spread around the globe. Trinity Church hosted the Sunday evening event.

The council also presented an interfaith Thanksgiving event in November, moving this year’s event to the Thursday evening before the holiday instead of the Sunday event it has been for years.

Earlier this month, Newtown Interfaith Council also presented the 11th annual service of remembrance on the anniversary of 12/14. Trinity Church again hosted the event, which approximately 40 people attended in person for music, prayers, reflections, and the reading of the names of those who died. As has been done for the past few years, the event was also livestreamed.

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Managing Editor Shannon Hicks can be reached at shannon@thebee.com.